This paper presents an autonomous docking system with novel integrated algorithms for mobile self-reconfigurable robots equipped with inexpensive sensors. A novel docking algorithm was developed to determine the initial distance and orientation of the two modules, and sensor models were established through experiments. Both Extended Kalman filter (EKF) and particle filter (PF) were deployed to fuse the measurements from IR and encoders and provide accurate estimates of orientation and distance. Simulation experiments were carried out first and then real experiments were conducted to verify the feasibility and good performance of the proposed docking algorithm and system. The proposed system provides a robust and reliable docking solution using low cost sensors.
In this paper we develop two filters, extended Kalman filter (EKF) and particle filter (PF), for autonomous docking of mobile robots and compare the performances of the two filers in terms of accuracy. Robots are equipped with IR emitters/receivers and encoders, and their data is used to estimate the distance and orientation of robots, which is needed for docking. The two state estimation methods are compared in simulations under different conditions. Simulation results demonstrate that the estimation accuracy of the EKF is higher than PF when the initial state is correctly estimated. However, when the initial state is not estimated correctly, the state estimation of EKF does not converge to the true value. On the other hand, PF state estimation successfully converges to the true value and the error is more consistent. The result of this work can help researchers and practitioners to design and use proper filters for docking applications.
Index Terms-Modular and reconfigurable robot, Infrared, Kalman filter, Particle filter (key words)I.
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